IRVING — A few weeks ago, the Cowboys were the team to beat in the NFC East. Now they just appear defeated.

That’s what the worst loss in the Jason Garrett era did for the Cowboys on Sunday night at New Orleans. They were humbled, crashing back to reality and — gulp — .500 yet again.

Dallas is 5-5 going into its bye week after back-to-back 8-8 seasons.

Just when you thought these Cowboys were different, they quickly reminded us in a not-so-subtle 49-17 loss that this season is more of the same from a brittle bunch.

If the Cowboys are going to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2009, they’re going to have to patch up some black eyes that have popped up over the first 10 games of the season.

Garrett wants the Cowboys to play with a relentless spirit that includes passion, emotion and enthusiasm.

As you ponder whether the Cowboys will still have a pulse come Christmas, grab some Pepto-Bismol as we look back at some nuggets from the first 10 games of the season:

Follow Brandon George on Twitter at @DMN_George.

Unfriendly skies on defense

The Cowboys fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan nine days after the 2012 season and turned the unit over to Monte Kiffin with the hopes of better results.

Ten games down, the Cowboys rank dead last in total defense, allowing 439.8 yards per game.

The Cowboys have been most vulnerable in their secondary. They have the league’s worst pass defense, allowing 313 yards a game.

They’ve already become the first NFL team to allow four 400-yard passers in the same season. That number could have risen to five Sunday night, but once Saints quarterback Drew Brees reached 392 passing yards with 12:43 left, he didn’t throw another pass.

The last two weeks, the Cowboys have been without cornerback Morris Claiborne because of a strained hamstring. That’s left the Cowboys thin, forcing them to use rookie B.W. Webb at the nickel cornerback spot. Webb struggled in coverage against the Saints and was replaced by Micah Pellerin, who has been on the active roster for only two weeks. The Cowboys expect Claiborne to return after the bye week.

“We’re a little disheveled in the secondary, and we’ll be getting back Claiborne and at least two safeties and that will make a big difference in that secondary,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday on KRLD-FM (105.3).

The Cowboys’ new 4-3, Tampa 2 defense is making the worst kind of history. It allowed a franchise-high 625 yards to the Saints and an NFL-record 40 first downs.

Two weeks ago, the Cowboys gave up 623 yards in a loss at Detroit, including 329 receiving yards — the second most ever in a game — to receiver Calvin Johnson.

“You need to probably man up more in the secondary than we’ve been doing than relying on zone,” Jones said, “because if we can’t get pressure, and we’re relying on the traditional zone … that’s a recipe for what happened to us the other night.”

400 times four

The Cowboys became the first NFL team to allow four 400-yard passers in a season this year:

Quarterback, team

Att.

Comp.

Yds.

TD

INT

Eli Manning, NYG

42

27

450

4

3

Philip Rivers, SD

42

35

401

3

1

Peyton Manning, Den.

42

33

414

4

1

Matthew Stafford, Det.

48

33

488

1

2

The new guy? Must be the latest addition to the defensive line

The Cowboys were hit hard by injuries a year ago and hoped that problem was behind them coming into this season. Instead, the injury bug is still pestering the Valley Ranch residents.

The position group that’s been hit the hardest over the first 10 games is the defensive line.

Just about every week for the last two months, the Cowboys have brought in a new defensive lineman. The Cowboys have made 23 moves in the line since the final game of the preseason. Struggling to keep up with everyone, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said recently he simply calls each fresh face “new guy.”

All four projected defensive line starters have missed time.

End Anthony Spencer played in only one game before he was placed on season-ending injured reserve because he needed microfracture surgery on his left knee. Tackle Jay Ratliff never was healthy enough to get on the field for the Cowboys and was released in mid-October. End DeMarcus Ware returned Sunday after missing three games with a strained right thigh. And tackle Jason Hatcher couldn’t play against the Saints because of the lingering effects from a stinger that caused him to lose strength in his left arm. Hatcher is expected to be back after the bye week.

On offense, running back DeMarco Murray missed 21/2 games because of a sprained left knee. Wide receiver Miles Austin has missed five games, including the last three, because of a strained left hamstring. Austin, who doesn’t have a catch since the second quarter of the Cowboys’ Sept. 22 game against St. Louis, is expected to return after the bye.

“We’ve done a really good job of adopting that next-man-up philosophy,” head coach Jason Garrett said. “It’s been tested a lot.”

Rushing attack on pace to be Cowboys’ worst ever

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett and the club’s front office talked a lot in the off-season about the need to run the football more and better in 2013.

There’s no evidence of either through the first 10 games.

The Cowboys have 199 carries for 770 yards. Last year through 10 games, they had 233 carries for 831 yards en route to the worst 16-game rushing total in team history.

Starter DeMarco Murray hasn’t received consistent touches in games and, well, hasn’t consistently been on the field. As has been the case throughout his three-year career, Murray can’t stay healthy. He missed 21/2 games with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

The Cowboys have outrushed their opponent in only two of the first 10 games. They’ve been outrushed in their last seven games.

Running ragged

The Cowboys’ inconsistent rushing offense has been one of the reasons the offense has sputtered under new play-caller Bill Callahan. A look at the Cowboys’ rushing offense in their first 10 games:

Opponent

Att.

Yards

TDs

NY Giants

23

87

0

at Kansas City

16

37

0

St. Louis

34

193

1

at San Diego

16

92

0

Denver

14

52

1

Washington

19

48

2

at Philadelphia

26

74

1

at Detroit

26

62

0

Minnesota

9

36

0

at New Orleans

16

89

1

Totals

199

770

6

Where’s Dez?

The way Dez Bryant played over the second half of last season had many predicting a breakout 2013 campaign for the fourth-year player.

Bryant has been spectacular at times this season, especially catching touchdown passes in the red zone, but he’s not putting up the numbers that many, himself included, believed he could.

Bryant has 52 receptions for 749 yards and eight touchdowns. Through 10 games last year, Bryant had 57 catches for 735 yards and four touchdowns.

He has three multiple-touchdown games, but he doesn’t have a touchdown catch in four of the last five games.

Bryant has battled back soreness all season and, in particular, last week leading up to the Saints game. Bryant said after Sunday’s loss, however, that his back wasn’t an issue.

The Cowboys have struggled getting him the ball at times; they targeted him only twice Sunday at New Orleans. Overall, the Cowboys are targeting Bryant at about the same pace as a year ago. He’s been targeted 89 times this year compared with 86 times through the first 10 games of 2012.

Getting Bryant the ball in crunch time has been a problem. He has only 11 catches in the fourth quarter over the first 10 games after catching 30 passes a year ago in the fourth quarter or overtime.

But Bryant has done the most with his 11 fourth-quarter catches. He’s totaled 249 receiving yards in the fourth, the most of any quarter this season.

“We need to get him the ball more,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday on KRLD-FM (105.3).

Mixed blessings

Dez Bryant has fewer catches in the fourth quarter this season than any other quarter but the most receiving yards:

Quarter

No.

Yards

TDs

First

13

158

3

Second

12

131

3

Third

16

211

1

Fourth

11

249

1

Looking ahead

The Cowboys are still in first place in the NFC East and can put themselves in great position to win the division title if they sweep their last three games against divisional foes. Here’s a look at the Cowboys’ last six games:

Date

Opponent

Rec.

Nov. 24

at NY Giants

3-6

After 0-6 start, Giants could be only a game back with win Sunday vs. Green Bay

Nov. 28

Oakland

3-6

The Raiders are 0-4 on the road; Cowboys are 28-16-1 all-time on Thanksgiving

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